thingsThisWeek
thingsThisWeek #109
Still here, on the island. This one started on a Friday 13th, and jinxed the whole week. Lost a watch, fried a charger, and broke my glasses. Things had to improve after that. Thankfully, they did.
🏝️ We enjoyed the final day of Brazilian musicians on the island, with one scavenger hunt. We needed to find a specific local musician. Of course, being such a small island, the hunt was over pretty quick. We got to the general area we were told he lived in, and were talking to him not five minutes later. Got to hear him sing, and play. A few minutes of chatting, and we were off to the next stop.
We drove to Terreiro Velho, but Cláudio, the chocolate man, wasn’t there. He’ll be on the island soon, though, so we’ll probably visit again.
Home of the best chocolate in the world.
Seems like his Roça is being renovated, which is very welcome news. We shot a couple of photos on his property, and soon we were gone.
I had absolutely no food until 8pm. And drank a couple of beers, and a taste of schnapps. Not too wise, but really did not find the time to eat. A lot of things going on.
Having tinyMovieStar with us, while both of us have to work, is not easy. There is no babysitter, and we have to run back and forth a lot, juggling the days away. Later in the week Raquel (an 8 year old friend) would visit, and tinyMovieStar did the same, went to her place for dinner.
The day ended with a private concert at the hotel, after dinner. Before that there was time for a last meet with musicians, well after sunset.
Of course, being Friday 13th, the charger for missQ stopped working. Blew up. I’m Leica-less for a month now. Merde! (More on this later, less merde, with a stroke of luck).
Following day, another mess. Not a single photo taken until close to sunset. And I only did the one because it would feel immensely strange to go without photos for a day.
I stayed home with the little one all day, but we did end up getting a ride with the staff jeep, and went to Bom Bom for a swim.
Broken glasses. Bam.
New day, new group of people: HTSI photographer on the island, and a video crew as well.
First day with the whole gang had a great way to start. Julian, the FT photographer, also owns a Q, and said he could leave his charger behind. I’ll make sure he gets it back when we go back home. I wasn’t expecting this, but he is a very nice person.
We later found out the did set photography on a show that we enjoyed a lot, and inspired movieStar to start planning our 2018 trip to Asia. Fancy that!
We drove to the airport, to pick up the video guys. I waited at the baker across the street, but no bread came before we had to leave. The boy there kept saying “in two minutes”, but thirty had already came and gone. We left.
Drove to Roça, they dropped their (multiple) bags, and we drove the other way around, heading to Bom Bom. On the way, we tried the baker again. He had bread already. And a Black Sabbath t-shirt. Julian asked for a photo. We all did that one.
We had a great time,
Beach boat ride to the beaches. We were supposed to visit the Bay of Needles, but the weather was so bad we had to delay the departure. When it cleared up a bit, it was too late for that one, so we ended up going the other way. It was very nice, and I got to visit Praia Boi. It’s my favorite beach in the world.
There was no cell network and, as a result, no wi-fi as well, for the whole day. Woke up the following morning with the same issue. Network comes on, you try to send a message, it hangs. A minute later, it’s gone. Can’t call, can’t message, can’t browse. Or upload. This is even worse than having no power. At least, when that happens, we still have the cell network in operation, the internet helping us kill time.
Went to sleep, expecting a full day to start as soon as we woke up. And, boy, did we get it!
Had the most delicious talk with a gentleman, while I waited to be picked up. 83 years old, started talking to me as soon as I sat down on the bench, next to him. People are always surprised when they learn I’ve been coming here regularly. He remembers the colonial times very well. Going to school (still remembers all the rivers from Portugal, Angola, and Mozambique), started working at 14, long life of hard work, and now retired. I hope I get to see him again, but he lives well off the beaten track, and was in town to get his pension, and pay some bills.
My drive showed up immediately afterwards, and we moved to a fisherman’s village. I acted as fixer/translator, and soon we were shooting. I made what will probably be my favorite photo from this whole trip. Then it started raining, heavily. We got VERY wet.
Talking to the fishermen, laughing with the guys. Really nice bunch we have, with the two American video guys, the British photographer, and Joel driving us around.
And, newsflash, video takes forever! We spent hours at the beach, then moved to a lookout point, where we shot some more. We were already running late, we had a boat to catch but still needed to have lunch. A quick tandoori chicken toast at the hotel, with a beer, and we left for the hotel by the sea, boat was already waiting for too long.
The captain was not too keen to take us. He was afraid we might take a while to shoot, into the night, and the cell network wasn’t working. No way to get help if something happened. We went anyway.
Flying! We were soaking wet from the waves flying over the boat in under a minute.
OMG. Blood!! Both video guys have sustained injuries, cuts on their fingers, when trying to remove the battery of a drone who wouldn’t quit. On a boat. Rocking with the waves. Not nice.
We raced back to the hotel, after emergency treatment was provided by the captain. Good thing the company trains all staff in First Response. All of them.
I then had another day at home, cooking, taking care of two girls, then off to Bom Bom for final hours of the day. We all went to dinner at Sheira, with Manuel and Joel. A local restaurant. By now we had two Canadians with us, the party getting bigger.
Julian left the following morning, his charger now with me. Batteries are charged. missQ is back.
First place the camera visited? São Joaquim, and O Que Daniel in the morning. São Joaquim is the poorest Roça on the island, I think. And so far from the city. Takes almost an hour to get there, on the awfully bad road. Beautiful landscape, of course, and lovely warm people when you get there. But they live so isolated from everyone else.
We spent a while, then moved to the next stop, and were ready to eat lunch at 2:30PM. We had endured hours of back breaking roads, had removed trees from the way, and had forgotten our water bottles at home. We were starved, and dehydrated.
Didn’t do much later, as the sun was about to set when we finished lunch.
Another day, another fishing village. This time it was Praia das Burras. We had sailed past it in one of our boat rides. We went by car this time.
Awesome hours at Praia das Burras, a fishermen’s village. Gentle people, fun people.
Women were getting ready to party, as this is the day that celebrates the San Tomean women. Men were having beer. We did as well.
We watched them as the fishing boats were coming back, danced with them, had a few good laughs, and then left.
Drove back to the city, and went to Mira-Rio. movieStar had been there earlier, with the little one, and they had fries! It was almost 3PM, and I had skipped breakfast. I could not miss the fries, first time I saw them in almost a month.
📺 Still watching, drip by drip, Slow Horses. Also started Bad Monkey, as I needed something to keep me busy while patiently waiting for the new episodes of the other show. Watched a couple of episodes, and believe I’ll watch a few more.
📚 Almost done with Spook Street. Liked it, but now I kinda know what’s going to happen on Slow Horses.
📱 First week with iOS 18. Still have to explore a bunch (everything). I’ve been testing Passwords, downloaded Email Me, is anyone using this one? I kinda like getting things by email. I could use Drafts for pretty much the same, but this one lets me send images and voice notes. Kinda neat.
thingsThisWeek #108
Still in Principe. SOOO much rain these days. Hours on end. Torrential. Makes things much harder. And frequent power outages, more than usual.
🏝️ National Holiday on Friday, then came the weekend. That means extra loud music in the evening. Now that we’re living in the city, right behind the church, this is something we have to deal with. The hotel was too quiet, this is a tad loud. Still prefer the city.
We finally visited family, my godmother, and extended gang. Girls were at summer camp, but they came over for the afternoon. They, as they do, became regulars at our place, whenever we’re in town. Playing with tinyMovieStar, keeping us company, taking care of us. One is about to turn 18, the other is 8.
Just going around town, lazily shooting stuff.
There’s ~a new~ one pizza place in town, and it’s right next to our place. Not brilliant pizza, but edible. Also does burgers.
We’ve been eating a lot of fish. Brilliant at the hotels, of course, but the best one is found at Juditinha, in the city. Best fish I ever had. With banana crisps, crunchy, dry.
The city feels a lot different this time. More like São Tomé. And that is not a good thing. A lot of people moving in from the bigger island. That is also not a good thing.
Things must move forward, of course. But this is destroying its charm, in a way. Too many cars. Lots of speeding. It’s always stupid, obviously, but even crazier on such a small town, with so many kids just running around with no parental supervision.
We’re experiencing a higher number of power outages. Instead of it coming back at 6AM/7AM, as usual, sometimes it does not. Or we get it for a couple of hours, and then it’s gone again.
We had a whole day without it. Having lunch (and dinner) at Rosita’s Rosa Pāo, without light during both meals.
Rosita. This was the first place I had a meal on the island, 10 years ago. She would later become my godmother. Grandma of a ton of kids, including both girls I mentioned earlier. Had dinner without electricity as well.
Sunday was hard. Most of the day spent at home. No car means no beach, and everything is closed. Not that there’s a lot during the week, of course, but “nothing” is hard.
We went out for a little while, but the humidity is UP THERE, and it’s a pain to be out and about. Thankfully there’s air con at home, and the power was on the whole day.
Bakers are fun here. I had to wait an hour for bread. They told us they’d have it ready at noon, but took them an extra hour to have it. Painful, the waiting outside, but bread is very good when you finally get your hands on it.
We even found out about a (much better) bread, but it’s closer to the airport. I’ll go there when we’re picking someone up, or dropping them off. Still hot, made on a classic, wood-powered oven.
We went back to Roça (multiple times), the place where we were married. The place where our friends lived. I say lived because, after many many years, they have finally been relocated to Terra Prometida (Promised Land).
The hotel feels empty. And sad. And silent.
The chapel is crumbling, falling apart.
The hotel, physically, as lovely as ever. I just think it lost its soul.
Then Melgas. Blood sucking bastards! tinyMovieStar had dozens of bites. We had to visit the hospital, get a pill, and some drops the following day,
That’s when we visited the new place the nurse is building (airbnb, restaurant, disco), and went with him to the day care center. We walked home.
Afternoon at home, with torrential rain outside. It’s hard to keep tinyMovieStar entertained over here. Not a lot to do, visit, enjoy. If we’re at the hotels, easy. But outside that, it’s just a very poor place, she doesn’t love it as much as we do. We got a visit from the girls, who spent the afternoon with us, she had a play date.
Also, finally, visited Terra Prometida (The Promised Land). On the day our musician friends arrived. Airport, Roça.
People seem happy with the new place. It’s huge! Instead of being all together under a couple of roofs, in the old Roça grounds, each family has its own house now, with a little land to grow something. I’ll have to go again, of course, and get some photos.
Saw trees. Surprising, right?
We listened to a performance by the batuqueiras. And that was that, power was out again. There’s no diesel on the island for full days with electricity.
The musicians that are now on the island are making this a very cool couple of days. Going around meeting the local talent, hearing them play and sing. Fun project, fun people.
Fun fact: one of them is the father of one of tinyMovieStar’s best little friends from kindergarten. That’s how the bigger movieStar thought about the whole project.
Shooting a lot of video (with phone) for this one.
🤦🏻♂️ Lost a watch. Totally my fault. One of the 2100 series G-Shock. I liked it. Might have to get a new one.
🎙️ Voicenotes still going. Strong. Recording every single day.
📺 Slow Horses. Forgot to add this to the previous edition. Boy, am I happy this one is back. Cowboy Cartel. Maybe I’ll even watch episode 2, the first one left me wondering how good this story will turn out to be.
🍿 The Instigators. Enjoyed the movie. That’s pretty good these days.
📚 I’ve added Spook Street, part of the Slow Horses series, by Mick Herron, to the list of books I’m reading. I just couldn’t wait for the weekly episodes. Almost done with the books.
📢 Cleaned up my Shoutouts account. Added a couple of new suggestions, and deleted a handful. This is a very cool service, another great idea by Vincent Ritter. Check it out if you’re not familiar with it, and you can see it in action at the bottom of every page/post on maique.eu.
🎙️ Must take a look at Spake. Another service from the good folks at Neatnik (hey, Adam!), makers of fun software, and delicious services. For now it’s free for anyone holding an omg.lol account. If you don’t have one, you’re missing out.
thingsThisWeek #107
Hey hey, we’re back in Principe, after a short stay in the bigger island.
🏝️ Trouble started as soon as we landed, but not before an epic welcome from the immigration officer.
We got our bags, and walked to passport control, where we were supposed to ask for a provisional work visa, and not the regular tourist one. We get 15 days with no visa, but are staying longer, and would probably work (movieStar for sure, that’s why she’s here). We’re doing things by the book.
I expected things to take a while.
The officer was very accommodating, asked what company we were working for, and directed me (girls had left for bathroom) to the immigration office. There was a HUGE policeman there, who picked up our passports, and said: “I’ve heard a lot about you, sir”!
I was surprised, very much so. This is not the smaller island, where everyone knows us, but the big one. He continued “Aren’t you coming to take some photos”?
“Ah!! Rosa spoke to you”, I replied, after a short moment. It had to be that. It was that! Rosa is the HR officer at he company. And he laughed!
The girls arrived at that time, and movieStar stood there for a second, wondering why we were both laughing already.
Welcome to São Tomé.
Trouble came right after that, as movieStar got her phone out of airplane mode.
There are two companies flying to the small island. The state owned one, with daily flights, and another one, with twice a week connections.
This second one is newer, and in the past everyone was stuck with the state airline. It fails. Often.
The plane is small, and always full. And it does fail a lot. We had tickets on both companies, as we couldn’t find seats for the three of us on the same flight. movieStar would fly out on the first morning (flag airline), and we’d join her the following day (private company), after a relaxing day by the pool.
My wife’s plane had a mechanical issue on one of the wheels. We knew this much before coming over, and our fingers were crossed. They could fix that while we flew in. Sure.
Of course they did not, and are now expecting a full week of no flights. People are stuck at both islands!
Adding to the mess, we’re here because one of the hotels is opening, after years of renovation work. Lots of (quite important) press is coming. They have no way to get to the island, if this mess isn’t sorted.
I, and tinyMovieStar, looked at giving away our tickets, and stay on the big island for a week, while MovieStar would try to go ahead without us.
Or not!
Woke up the following morning and, as it usually happens, things miraculously got fixed while we slept. The state owned company chartered another plane, from an Angolan airline, to fly the stranded passengers back and forth.
We had trouble boarding, obviously, as a computer kept acting up, and our bags were over the weight limit. Worked out in the end.
We ended up flying over after one day of R&R in São Tomé, at the lovely Omali, AND we stayed 5 days at the refurbished BomBom, the nicest hotel on the small island. Working, but still…
Back at Bom Bom, now that Bom Bom is back. First day was ok. I had to shoot a bit.
Happy I got those photos straight away, as the weather turned, and shooting was pretty much done. We spent the rest of the time just lounging around, mostly at the pool, with the occasional dip in the ocean.
tinyMovieStar is improving SO quickly, she now swims a whole length of the pool, and jumps into the deep end without fear. Love her!
I helped test new cocktails, and drank some more of my favorite beer from the island.
Slept with sound of waves crashing, five meters from our door.
Swimming in the sea as soon as I wake up is one of my favorite things to do here.
On the fifth day we finally left the hotel. First a ride to the airport, dropping people off, and picking people up. Then over to the city, finally.
We got in pretty late already, with just enough time to run around town trying to find butter, get some supplies, have dinner at the very expensive Armazém (in fact everything is wildly expensive here, as this is an island’s island, and prices go up accordingly).
First night spent with rain, the usual power outage, and music from the bars outside.
I also managed to take care of the local SIM card, and I’m now connected. Not so important when we’re staying at the hotels, but very much so when we’re living in the city.
And that’s it for our first week. Bring on the next one!
🗺️ As I usually do around here, I’m trying my best to update OpenStreetMap. New places popping up, others closed for years, double POI, you name it. Let’s see how much I can get done.
🔐 A 1Password / Bitwarden war is going on, for me. I would love to drop the expensive 1P sub, and replace it with a decently priced Bitwarden Pro plan, but the looks of Bitwarden kill me!
I have been adding Passkeys to 1P, left and right, trying to persuade me that it’s worth it. Of course you can do the same in Bitwarden, but my brain can ignore that.
🗞️ New Reeder is out.
🤮 I deleted my Twitter account. Finally. Wasn’t using it, just kept it around to help save the username. The hell with it.
♻️ {micro maique} is now {maique}. Take that. Why? Felt nicer.
thingsThisWeek 106
Back in the city, for a little while, and off we went again. This post was published when we’re already in Africa! Definitely a very strange week, there’s not a lot to share. We were too tired to do anything worth recording, and mostly dealt with the trip’s preparation.
💨 Spent half a day in Lisbon, straight from the Azores, then moved to the in-laws. Car wouldn’t work, so used one of my father’s. I’ll have to deal with that when we’re back.
We (the little one and I) rested, while the older girl had meeting after meeting. Three days of this routine.
We then moved back home, and had to deal with the trip: barber, bookstore, dentist. Packing. Checking in. Returning the car to my father. We had a very busy, and very stressful, couple of days.
On the night before the flight, only the little one got some sleep. We had to wake up early, and kept doing double takes, trying to figure out if something was going to be left behind.
I got up at 3AM, to add another lens to the backpack. Then back to sleep. Then awake again, for no special reason.
And on to the airport we went.
💺 I inherited a cousin when I got married. Well, I inherited a few, but one is worth mentioning today. He’s an airline captain, at the company we flew this time (and, truth be told, whenever we can). We get upgraded to executive when there are empty seats, and that’s always good. We did on this flight. Better food, always nice. Another (very) good thing about the upgrade: never a line to use the loo.
The plane is a small A320, not the most glamorous of planes. The flight seems endless, and the fact that we must stop for 90 minutes in Accra is just a shame. There’s a direct one, but only once a week. Bigger plane too for that one.
🇸🇹 I’ve said it before, but trips to this island are special, in the sense that there’s next to nothing there. We have to take everything we need with us. There are no shops on the island, except grocery stores, and handicraft shops, and other assorted establishments, of no practical use for us. And there’s no way I’ll be able to find a cable, or a card reader, or a battery. There’s also no ATM for our cards, so we’re always taking a lot more cash than we’d like.
All this. while also trying to keep the total weight of our luggage as low as possible, since there’s an allowance of 15kg (33lbs?) per person on the internal flight to Principe. Yeah. My camera gear alone is close to that.
I never got on that flight without being charged for the extra weight. It’s been 9 years now since I first came, the local airline has made a ton of money from my flights! The flight, in case you’re wondering, costs an insane amount anyway: close to 250€ for a 35-minute hop.
💸 Purchased a few more presets, just because they were cheap. Will probably keep using the same old dozen, but I’ve seen a couple on this pack that look very cool. And it is very hard to resist a well designed ad, and $9 for a few hundred presets.
🍿 The Union. What a load of nonsense. SOOOO predictable, from start to finish. Free Guy, a little better. Enjoyed this one.
📱 Settled on Castro again, for all my podcast needs. I missed the playfulness, and it seems to be working. Please don’t screw this up, new owners.
📝 Wrote a longer post, concerning blogging workflows. Everyone seemed to be doing it, and the posts were inspiring enough to get me to write my own.
📚 The book I picked up just before the trip was my entertainment during the flight. The airplane has no other means of keeping you busy, even on an 8 hour flight (please fix this, TAP, it’s not acceptable). Loving the stories, and theories, about the horrific 1755 Lisbon earthquake.
⌚️ Worth noting this is the first time I’m spending time in STP without the Explorer. I’m still wearing the 5000U, that’s why. After Menorca, Chaves, the Azores, it’s now time for the Japanese to visit Africa as well. It’s a comfortable watch, the feature set is perfect for traveling, and it’s awesome to know it will be able to handle everything. The other one did as well (it’s built like a tank), but one always worries a little.
thingsThisWeek #105
Azores. Busy week. Actually, slightly longer than a week, but I wanted to keep everything Azores on this one. We had an incredible time, thanks to our lovely friend Rui, and the cousins who were vacationing there as well. Next visit will surely happen sooner, rather than later.
Note: minimal editing on this thingsThisWeek, so feel free to let me know if something looks odd. Thanks.
✈️ Still counting, the flights on this trip were tinyMovieStar’s 13th and 14th. The kid gets around. This time, sadly, we flew Ryanair. Money, profit, chaos. It’s a mess, one we avoid whenever we can. We couldn’t escape it this time, as the prices on a normal, comfortable, professional company were three times what these tickets cost. Worth it? Still not sure.
Read on for more on this.
🍍 Anyway, we got to São Miguel. Rui was waiting for us at the airport. The bags took over an hour to be delivered (yay, Ryanair, you really have your shit together), and we were very late for a very tasty dinner. Thankfully our friend is a respected member of Azorean society, and our reservation was still valid, more than an hour later.
He then handed us the key to his house, and moved to his parents’s for a week. He’s the best. We can’t thank him enough.
Day One
Picked up a bottle of water in the morning and a bottle of water in the afternoon from a mini mart next to our place. The girl is already calling me neighbor, which I love. The accent is a dead giveaway that I’m not a neighbor.
Awesome first day. Beach. Forbidden beach. Natural pools. Dinner with cousins. Ice cream. Soft serve, from a very old machine. The spot (Tomé) is an institution on the island. Huge lines every single day.
(These trips to Tomé would turn out to be a routine, but we didn’t know it yet. Soft serve has a tradition over here, and we did have a lot of those delicious treats).
Day Two
Day spent at oceanic pools, and proper ocean. Sunday, so very busy. We were alone for half the day, then Rui met us and we went to Caloura, one of our favorite spots on the island. Caloura is an harbour, a very small one. At the end of the cement pier there’s a pool for kids, that gets water from the ocean, and a diving spot for all ages, provided you can swim.
Day Three
He have car. Today was the day when we finally had our car available. Not complaining, obviously, as we’ve been driven around the island by the incredible Rui, but this works out better for everyone. This one is his mother’s spare car, and has been used by a few visiting photographers. He’s just that kind of person.
We drove to meet our cousins at a beach close by, then had lunch at a very local, very busy, spot. They are famous for their chicken wings, and for good reason. They were awesome.
On our way to the car, we were presented with a fishermen’s brawl. A couple of guys drove a car to a cafe, jumped out, and started yelling at the guys there. One carrying a huge knife, the other a big stick. Despite all the noise, none seemed willing to use the tools, and the ones being yelled yet knew it. Cafe doors were closed, just in case, but nothing really came of it. Just a few hits of the stick on tables, but soon it was all over, and they drove away. It was definitely fun to watch.
Afternoon beach amazing, and then we drove to the hot springs for corn, and to the oldest European tea plantation for some tea, and a delicious IPA. Locally made.
There are a few local products that I love, and will try to find in Lisbon.
When we thought we’d just go back home, tinyMovieStar said she wanted to have dinner with her tiny cousins (she rode with them all day, not with us), so we did.
Day Four
Starting very late. Girls up at 11AM. Drove to the pizza place, and back with lunch. movieStar found a way to have a remote meeting in the middle of our holiday. Nice.
Went to Caloura with tinyMovieStar. The tide was super high, with every wave crashing over the pool. I held the little one in my arms, we were thrown this way and that way, and then she dove and swam before the next wave hit. It was SO much fun. We managed to spend half an hour there, and then a huge wave came and ran over the pier, our stuff was wet, and everyone had to go. No place to set a towel down. Lockers on the cafe next door would be great. Nothing really happens, of course, but one does have to leave stuff unattended while swimming, and it would be useful to have a place where one could just stuff the backpack with the phone, money, car keys,…
It was probably my best time at Caloura ever.
We picked up movieStar, and moved to a different beach, on the north coast. A busy one, with big waves to play in. Stayed for a while, then had a huge steak at Associação, followed by another ice-cream at Tomé, in the city. tinyMovieStar fell asleep on the way over, and missed the ice-cream.
Day Five
Another late start, it was noon when the girls woke up. Since tinyMovieStar missed her ice-cream yesterday afternoon , we went out last night, to make things right. She couldn’t, obviously, fall asleep right after, we had to wait for the sugar rush to go down. Fell asleep pretty late, again.
Yay for responsible parenting!
Caloura, huge waves. Huge ones. This time phone went in.
I needed translation, again. The accent is really thick in some parts of the island.
We the dropped the little one at their cousins, and went to The Gin Library with Rui. He had set up an appointment with the owner, and what fun it was!
Day Six
We finally made it to the western part of the island, to Lagoa das Sete Cidades, Mosteiros, and around there. It is one of our favorite parts of the island, one we were wanting to go since getting here.
Nice, simple, lunch, then back to Ponta Delgada, picking up the cousins, and amazing beach afternoon at Pópulo. Dinner at Cais 20. Super day.
Day Seven
Ferraria in the early morning (yes, everyone was up earlier today)! That’s a hot spring, by the sea. In the sea. Like a tidal pool, but on top of a hot spring. Super hot water (think 50 degrees), and it’s cooled down by the crashing waves. It’s one of the coolest places on the island.
We then moved to a nice Italian restaurant for lunch. tinyMovieStar fell asleep right after that, so we just drove around the island, two thirds of it. Rabo de Peixe included, for a quick photo of some Vhils. Something was about to go down, sadly, and we were ushered out of there. It can get tricky, fast.
When she finally woke up, as we were close to the big beach, we just went. Santa Bárbara again.
Time for dinner, at the pirate’s cove: Forte Terrace. Nice place, very poor service. They are severely understaffed.
Day Eight
A lot of rain throughout the night, waking up often (and early), and then…
We met the cousins at their favorite beach again. They always go to the same one. It’s odd, since there are so many good ones around, and we love driving around finding new ones. They are always at the same one, for two hours, before heading home and spending the afternoon there, while we’re enjoying the island. To each their own, of course, but can’t help but think their kids would love to go out more. Cais 20 for lunch (we LOVE this place). Another couple of hours at the beach, and a quick drive home for a shower and change of clothes. We had a party (a religious procession) to attend, and dinner while at it. It was fun, and I got a couple of photos out of it.
Our old ladies photo contest is still going. It’s quite easy, in fact, and there are a lot of sweet ones around.
Day Nine
We’re leaving. Sadly. We had a blast here. We are very thankful to Rui, who provided housing, means of transportation, guidance, and company. He’s a huge friend, but never expected this level of generosity. It was incredible.
Morning at Populo beach, with cousins. We then asked tinyMovieStar where she wanted to have the last lunch on the island, and she immediately said “Cais 20”. We went.
Quick drive home, finished packing, and moved to the capital city. Dropped the little one at our cousins place, and picked up some supplies for later. Our flight gets home at midnight, and we have no food at home.
Rui, always the gentleman, drove us to the airport, and we said our goodbyes.
The flight over was nicer, because small airports are always better.
We arrived, and took a cab. A regular, old fashioned, cab. The platforms were going nuts with so many people at the airport, surge pricing was skyrocketing, and the drivers kept refusing our ride. We waited three minutes, before heading to the taxi line, and getting in immediately. Cheaper too.
We’re home.
📚 Still reading (managed a few dozen pages) The Way of the Knife, by Mark Mazzetti. Still liking it.
📰 Using ReadKit for a while, replacing FieryFeeds. Why? Why not? Miss that one FieryFeed feature (swipe to mark all read) on the feed list, but feels fresh. I remembered I had purchased Premium for life on this one.
📷 Also trying, and enjoying, the new Process Zero with Halide. Not for all the photos, but when I have time to think. It’s cool.
📡 G-Shock automatic time sync on the islands, these ones and the ones that will follow, accomplished with Clock Wave. It works as promised. We are VERY far from the areas that are covered by the transmitters.
✈️ Ryanair is shit. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. We couldn’t afford this trip on a regular flight, not after Menorca, and just before a month and a half on the very basic, and yet expensive, Principe. We flew Ryanair.
Lisbon has two terminals. One for regular people, a modern terminal, with nice folks working there, plenty of shops and food. It’s lovely. And then there’s Terminal 2, for those too cheap to pay for a decent flight. Only the low cost airlines use it. It’s like a bus station in the dirtiest city of a developing country. Thousands of smelly passengers thrown into a warehouse. The staff is made up of people who failed their prison guard exam, because they were just too happy being too nasty.
You cannot have a regular carry on with Ryanair, as they do not allow them. Just a small volume. You can, of course, pay for the privilege. I can live for a week off a small backpack, it’s very doable when you’re spending your days at the beach, and places where beach attire is allowed. movieStar will do that as well, easily. She has a talent. But the little one cannot. She needs a bit more stuff. We had a checked bag.
Security procedures are messy. Way too many people for two entries into the screening area. Not enough security personnel over there as well, no way to make this quick.
We somehow managed to board our plane, and were immediately stuck on the tarmac. Other, more important planes, had to leave on time. They pay for that, I’m sure. Ryanair will not. We waited.
We flew in, trying not to make eye contact with the other passengers, as it looks like they’ll ask for something the moment they lock eyes with you. Maybe some money, or help with their own kids, maybe a kidney. You never know.
Eye contact with the crew is also not advised, as they seem to always have some sort of item for sale in their hands: the usual food & beverages, but they will try to push perfume, scratch tickets, and other stuff. It’s awful.
The airport in Ponta Delgada is small, the kind where you walk from the plane to the terminal. We could even carry our own bag, if they would just give the damn thing to us when we arrive. They do not, of course. That would be illegal, but also too practical for us.
It took us three minutes to get to the luggage belt, and the screen told us the bags with be with us in 15 minutes. Fair. They did not. They took over an hour. With only two planes at the airport.
The second one, from our lovely national airline, arrived 50 minutes after our own, with normal looking people flooding the terminal, and their bags were offloaded in 10 minutes, while we still waited for ours! We were told that Ryanair is the only company using a different baggage handling service, and delays are usual. They are just too cheap to pay for normal service. Not premium service, mind you, normal one. The one everyone else uses.
I had never, in my five decades of flying, seen people clapping when the bags finally showed up!
thingsThisWeek #104
Home, In-Laws, Cascais, and we’re about to leave for the Azores. That’s where we’ve been this week. We’ve been in packing/unpacking hell for a while now.
😌 We spent a couple of days at the in-laws before moving to the Azores, our next stop in Crazy Summer 2024. Picked up a cousin on the way over. She’s a teacher in Finland, and tinyMovieStar loves her a bit more for that, as her mother told her she lives in the land of Frozen. Of course a trip to Lapland is already in the works, this little girl needs to see snow, doesn’t she?
movieStar is working from home, while the rest of us try to keep the little one entertained. We spent our days doing mostly nothing else, while movieStar had meetings, and handled her usual office routine.
We did have a birthday party late Tuesday, hair appointments early Wednesday, pool day on Thursday, just before flying to the Azores tomorrow. Other than that, not much to report.
We drove a lot this week.
🦚 It had been a while since we’ve heard the peacocks in the morning, but we slept at home (one night only) for the first time in weeks. We’re not used to the noises of the city by now. Trash collection, tourists and their trolleys, constant construction, you name it. It’s a mess.
👩🏻🏫 Finally managed to gather all the paperwork needed for TinyMovieStar’s enrolment. Very very late. But it’s done.
📚 I realized I took the Kobo with me to Spain and Chaves, and I didn’t even open it once. I’ll keep putting it in the backpack, maybe this time it’ll be different. I also have an real book, a physical one, with me, but that’s even harder to get to. In the meantime, I added another book to the device, hoping I can get around to it someday: The Way of The Knife, by Mark Mazzetti. I started already, but I’m pretty sure I won’t finish it anytime soon.
🍿 Inside Out 2, not a perfect movie for a 4 year old and quite frankly we did not enjoy it that much as well. We had pizza afterwards, and that was fun. Killer Elite, very bad. Also Road House, but I had to fast forward some of the fighting scenes as they were so long and, although really well choreographed, quite boring. Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant. Nicer.
I will pirate Perfect Days when we’re back from the Azores. I tried to find a place to stream it, or rent it. I’m paying for HBO, Netflix, Apple TV+, Disney, Amazon, and Filmin. And none of them has found a way to make it available here? I give up.
🎤 ner3y shared a post about Voicenotes on Mastodon, and I caved in. Quickly. I’m now a Believer. It was one of those FOMO things, the Lifetime tier seemed like a no-brainer.
I talk, it records, transcribes, and can do a lot of stuff with it. Like a private LLM, with my words as input. Neat.
Thinking that I might also use the app to record the sound of my daughter. Now that I have a place where I can keep all the sound notes, I can definitely use this, even if the translation or transcription is not perfect. It will be a way to have her voice safe and ready to listen.
🖼️ Finally settled on a wallpaper that I think I’ll keep around for a while. Found it on Mastodon, looked for a bigger version on Threads, and I’m sharing it here for others to enjoy. No idea who authored this one, sorry.
⚙️ Just in time for the screenshots, I joined the beta of Shareshot, and then, two days later, subscribed for a year. I’ve been using the wonderful Shortcut Apple Frames, by Viticci, for the longest time, but felt it was time for a change. I’m still keeping it around, the Shortcut, for those multiple shot combos, as I don’t think this app handles those yet. Messaged the developer, and it’s coming. No ETA, but it will come.
🔋 After some issues with the delivery (gotta love CTT), the package finally made it to my hands. The Sharge Retro 67 looks really cool, and it works like a charm.
🌐 Being in town for a little while, with no real work to do, means I could get back to the other blogs I’m keeping: I’m updating sticker spotter, 🐼 Panda Pixels, and dreaming of the time when Boo! will finally get a new post! Looking forward to Azores stickers (is that even a thing?) after the good catch in Spain. Have to save some, as there are no stickers in Principe, and we’ll be there for a while.
📺 Paolo fromTOKYO. I still love his videos, and we’ve been watching for years now. Even when the subject is not that interesting to me, I just enjoy the way he talks about stuff and love seeing Tokyo from his point of view. People walking in Tokyo will never get old for me. The Day in the Life series is my favorite.
📱 So far, no iOS 18 beta for me. I really want to try it, but I’m very scared it will break the banking apps, just as we’re moving out of the country for a while, and I’ll have no other way to interact with my accounts.
thingsThisWeek #103
We’ve been to Menorca for a week, Chaves for another one, and are now back in Lisbon, waiting for our next plane ride out of here. Next up: Azores.
🏖️ Menorca was awesome. I know I probably use awesome more often than I should, but it was. Easy, simple, amazing beaches, good food, nice people.
movieStar left her phone at home, but we managed to find a way to get it to her. Five or six people involved in the operation, but she did get it on the second day, when our friends joined us on the island.
At the same time, adding a bit more stress to the week, we got the news: the girls who live in the place we own are getting a divorce, and moving out in a month. I need to find new tenants, but we’re on the move for close to three months. It sucks. For them, of course, but for us as well. That rent is what allows me to have as little work as I can, but I don’t like having people I don’t know living in my place. Thankfully the girls are helping along (immensely), and I believe the situation might be sorted, two weeks later.
Menorca was, as I said, great. movieStar managed to find us a very cool apartment, in a nice and quiet place, with a swimming pool. Walking distance to a beach, and dozens of other ones available with a car (or bus, if you’re so inclined).
Quieter than Ibiza, or Maiorca, it’s the perfect place for families. Half the plane passengers were under 10. Most of those (judging by the return flight) went straight to the resorts at the only unbearable place on the island: Galdana. Taller buildings, all inclusive. Hell.
We took our time visiting a multitude of beaches, and smaller villages. We had fun.
Most of the beaches have a very nice system: there is car parking far from the beach. You leave your car there, stock up on water, and make your way to the beach on foot. There is no infrastructure on the beach, except for a bathroom.
If you’re lucky, you’ll find someone pushing a small container with beer and water.
On one of these we found a gentleman selling beer for xtra-hombres. A very delicious, and stronger, beer made in Zaragoza. We drank the four cans he had, and then had to go back to being regular hombres.
This was also the beach where we figured we couldn’t survive without a beach umbrella. No shade whatsoever. I started asking people who were leaving if they’d be kind enough to sell their umbrella, and the third one said yes. I offered to pay well above what they cost, but they wouldn’t accept it. Nice people.
We also made our way to Binibeca, had fish at restaurant in Alcaufar, ate tapas at Maó’s fish market, and a delicious meal at Aurora’s, in Ciutadella.
Another day, another beach: Cavalleria.
I had a wardrobe malfunction, but quickly found a shop in Fornells, when I was able to find a shirt before sitting down for dinner. The local festivities were taking place, we strolled around after ice-cream. tinyMovieStar, again, quick to make friends. She speaks the cutest Spanish, and loves it when kids understand her.
Final full day, Galdana. Meh. Ciutadella by night, again.
We slept, packed our bags, loaded them in car, and made our way to the final beach: Mitjana. More beer. More cliff jumping. We left hours later, straight to the airport. Sand clinging to our legs and feet. Happy. Very.
Note: Internet speed on the island is crazy slow, when compared to what we have at home. But roaming in the EU is super these days, when compared to what we had in the past. You cross a border, the phone picks up the new network, and that’s it. No extra fees, no extra hassle. You just use it as if you’re home. Brilliant.
🎵 We landed in Lisbon, went home to pick up the car, and were back on the road. Spent less than an hour there. Off to Chaves, and the wonderful N2 festival. Branko as favorite show this time.
We spent time with our buddies, family, and worked my ass off. Pool time too.
tinyMovieStar got to know one of singers she likes, and also made soup at the restaurant where we eat our meals. Everyone loves her, they know her since she was born, and it really feels like we are visiting family.
Since we had some time after the actual festival, we thought it would be a good idea to visit Santiago de Compostela. It’d been years since I was there, and movieStar had never been. Off we went.
🇪🇸 Santiago is packed full of religious tourists, but we still had no trouble finding a parking spot, and a place for lunch. We did not stay too long. Time for photos, churros, and drove back.
🏟️ Throughout the weeks, we’ve watched part of the Olympics. Not too much, but a lot more than on previous years.
🌈Purchased a pack of Wes Anderson filters for Lightroom. Loving it for a specific type of photos.
🗞️ Feedbin renewal, subscription paid for another year.
🔋 Ordered a Sharge Retro 67. It will probably arrive when we’re not home. It will probably be returned.
🍿 Movies, finally. The Beekeeper, Cesária Évora, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.
📱 I’ve been mostly offline, while still holding a phone all the time. Photos, videos, maps, shopping, it’s impossible to get away.
thingsThisWeek #102
This update is coming from the lovely island of Menorca. Maybe I should have done it in Spanish! Anyway, we had some stuff to do before getting here…
🩸 More blood tests for movieStar (she’s ok).
💈 A visit to the barber on Tuesday (no issues here).
🦷 A visit to the dentist on Tuesday (I’m ok).
📦 Pick up a new G-Shock (loving it).
🌡️ tinyMovieStar’s temperature rising right before we have to get on a plane. Classic tinyMovieStar.
She was fine the next morning, coming down from a quite high fever, and even went to school. She had to pick up her stuff, say “thank you” to her amazing teachers and staff, and goodbye to everyone. She’ll see them again in October only. That’s 80 days! She’ll miss the first month and a half of school, for a very valid reason: she’s traveling!
💻 More photo editing. All done, thankfully. I’ll shoot the music festival in August, but I’ll probably have no work until October. Freelancing sucks, and a bit more when people/clients have no idea when you’re in town. They stop calling. Understandably.
🇪🇸 It was time to fly to Menorca, and begin our week of relaxation.
That would be flight #11 for our 4 year old.
Day One
First trip with one single watch, the one I’m wearing. It feels odd to do this, of course. Not having another one in the backpack is just strange. But, since the GW-5000U (must find a nickname for this one) had just arrived, and needed to fully charge, what was I to do?
movieStar also decided to travel light, and forgot her phone at home. She only noticed at the airport, too late to go back. Travel days are, of course, already pretty stressful, and we had to spend the time before boarding trying to sort this one out. Nice.
The lady who helps us with cleaning up (and has a key) also does that for a few of our family members, and she was at a cousin’s place. In another city. She had the key with her. She gave him the key. He handed the key to his wife. She drove to the city (about an hour), and left the key with her sister. Another friend was flying to the island to meet us, and she’s picked up the key, drove to our place, and retrieved the phone!
Anyway, we got on the plane, and found ourselves in a Spanish island one and a half hours later. A taxi ride away from our final destination.
As soon as we found our apartment, we went to the supermarket. tinyMovieStar vanished. She was unaccounted for for about three minutes, but I think I aged a bit during those minutes. Found her quite far from the supermarket, closer to the apartment. I was pale, and pissed.
Swimming pool, and we were done. Time to wrap up day one.
Day Two
First full day on the island.
Our friends were flying in today, and picking up the car we’ll use to drive around the island. Sadly, their flight was with easyjet, and there’s nothing easy about that. Flight delayed, and then cancelled. With the passengers already sitting in the plane. Maybe tomorrow. Classy.
In the meantime we went to a couple of beaches close by, and spent an incredible amount of time at the pool.
tinyMovieStar got a bit of fever, again. I rushed (walking as fast as the heat would allow) to the nearest pharmacy. She bounced back pretty quickly, with medicine and a lot of water.
No 📚, no 🎵, no 📺, no 🍿.
thingsThisWeek #101
Slowly getting back into the habit of writing these updates. It took longer than a week this time, and I wonder how long it will take going forward. We’re spending a lot of time away from the city, I’m sure things may be slowing down here, as I’m busier. Apologies in advance.
🏥 Last weekend started with a visit to the nearest hospital. movieStar had been coughing for a while, and impossible to talk her into seeing a doctor. During the night she coughed so hard that she threw her back. Thankfully, as that made it easier to take her to the hospital. It was a stressful day, surprisingly, as the blood test showed something odd. In the end we were good, but spent a few hours worrying like hell.
🦠 I also have a cough, a really nasty one. Will I ever be able to go a week without some kind of infection? More on that next time…
👰🏻 A cousin (movieStar’s side of the family) is getting married next year. She was in town this weekend, letting us know about it, and playing with tinyMovieStar just before that, and right after. She lives in LA, for over a decade now, and she’s having two wedding ceremonies: one over here, the other over there. We’d love to attend both, more so because the US version will take place in Big Sur, and that’s been on my list for many decades. Being super tall, and super blonde, of course my sweet daughter loved her. She spent most of the time ignoring us, and just hanging with her.
🐶 Mini Chori is here. Just in time for some travel time. Fingers crossed he comes back with us, safe.
📷 Unexpectedly, more work. An assignment for a French magazine. I got to spend two days at Comporta, a super hyped place in the country, that I have never been a fan of. I couldn’t quite understand the whole thing. I do now. The trick is… drum roll… having millions of euros! That is why all the F1/movie/royalty/fashion people seem to like it so much.
😢 In the city, close to home, a theater company got an eviction notice from the university where they had their operations for over a decade. It was quite sad to see them move out.
🍿 somehow I managed to get to the end of Axel F. No idea why I did that.
📺 Sunny, a couple episodes on my own, Becoming Karl Lagerfeld, the whole thing, with movieStar. Both quite odd. Sunny is a better odd, the other one felt like a caricature most of the time.
thingsThisWeek #100
Yep, you’re reading it right. 100. The one hundredth edition of these here weekly recaps is here. Failed a few, paused for a while, but we made it to this stage. One. Hundred.
I wish the week had been more epic, but that’s how things happen.
🐟 On Saturday we had lunch with my parents at a local spot, my mom wanted her yearly dose of sardines. She had them, delicious.
We then drove out of town, to my in-laws. It’d been a while since our last visit. My brother in law joined us, with his girlfriend.
🍼 Uncle. Again. Hopefully. My brother in law announced it, her girlfriend is pregnant. They tried for a while, so this is super welcome! tinyMovieStar is beyond excited: a new cousin just arrived, and now this on the way. She keeps saying she’s the oldest cousin, happy she outranks them. She wants to babysit them.
🎉 The kindergarten Arraial happened! We all pitched in. I was part of the grill crew, so drove to pick up grill from another school, took care of the coal purchase, and grilled/sold meat/sausages/turkey/sardines for hours. It was exhausting, but very fun. movieStar was in charge of the second-hand clothing sale.
🐼 Panda Pixels now has a custom domain. Adding to the number of maique.eu subdomains, you can now find the black & white experimentation at panda.maique.eu. Using Obscura camera app for most of those shots.
⚽️ Football Friday, quarter-finals of the Euro2024 championship. We lost. That ended our participation in the competition, and it was probably the last time Ronaldo and Pepe played in one of these. They will be missed. We are now waiting for the finals. Spain gets our support.
📺 Public Affairs Office in the Sky. Japanese, feels like a very sugary soap opera. Probably what I needed. Watched a couple of episodes.
🍿 Tried to watch the new Beverly Hills Cop movie, but found it toooooo boring. Took me the whole week to almost make it to the end. Almost.
📕 Added two Portuguese books to the pile I’m reading. One about the final days of our dictatorship, the other with stories of public transport drivers. Enjoying both.